


Incomplete Codex of Encountered Surface Denizens by Zagreus, Prince of the Underworld

by reptilianraven



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Absolutely Wrong Taxonomy, Gen, Humor, Philosophical meanderings, fan nonfiction, this started out as a joke but then segued into...some kind of thing surely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:28:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28131684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reptilianraven/pseuds/reptilianraven
Summary: NARRATOR: After many visits to the surface, the Prince of the Underworld decides to take on a harrowing challenge unlike any other he has faced, one that is so deadly and perilous that only fools attempt it, a venture that could very well lead to one’s demise. The Prince decides to write.ZAGREUS: Oh, come on. Writing has never killed anybody...Wait, has it?-Zagreus catalogs the creatures he meets on the surface. Or something like that.
Comments: 23
Kudos: 146





	Incomplete Codex of Encountered Surface Denizens by Zagreus, Prince of the Underworld

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is like if “ludicrously incorrect medieval bestiary that is inexplicably tender and filled with heart” made a baby with “vaguely essayistic philosophical thoughts on eternity”
> 
> not betaed or proofread, today i have no death defiance for typos
> 
> i hope you enjoy!!

FOREWORD

This is the last part of the Incomplete Codex of Encountered Surface Denizens that I have written, which is strange because anybody who will read this will come across this portion first. Nevertheless, I want to take this moment to explain myself, my project, and what has become of both of us.

I started this Codex because the surface fascinated me to no end. Every dayornight, I fight my way through the Underworld to see it, and yet my time there is fleeting and ephemeral. The wonder I feel at everything I learn there, though? That is eternal. Father says that one day in my immortal life, I will eventually stop asking questions, but to that I usually say “Piss off.” If life can last forever, so can curiosity, and I am sure that the curiosity I harbor within me endure as long as I do.

And so, I undertook the challenge of writing a Codex for living creatures I encountered on the surface. At first, I did not know why I was doing this. I simply felt compelled to, as if the moment I saw something new, I had to put it down on a page. My time on the surface is fleeting, but I did not want those novel moments to be as well. I wanted to, in some way, immortalize the creatures I met.

That being said, I am well aware that this Codex is heavily skewed by my own lack of knowledge concerning the surface. I do not know what many things are truly called, up there, nor do I know how they behave past the glimpses I get of them before I inevitably die. I name these creatures and describe them based on what I know, and perhaps this will entertain you. In fact, I hope it does, laughter is never a bad thing. 

I admit my shortcomings, but I also ask you, dear reader, to not think of this Codex as “wrong” but as something coming from a different perspective. As I wrote the Codex, I stray from describing the creatures I meet to more, er, philosophical meanderings. I will not spoil what you are about to read, but be merciful to me, for I was never one to do anything the way they are expected to be done. What you are about to read is, in part, a bestiary, but perhaps more importantly, it is some sort of convoluted love story between the surface and I. 

Having written this Codex helped me come to terms with my relationship with the surface in the sense that it made me finally realize the truth: I cannot stay there. But I no longer mourn over this fact. The same way it is foolish to mourn over the sun setting is it foolish to mourn over how time is finite, how knowledge is finite, how things have to end. I stopped writing this Codex eventually, though not because I had catalogued every creature on the surface. I stopped writing it, because I had understood the merit of conclusion. 

Things have to end so that things may begin again. The day must come to a close so a new one can grace us. Ephemerality is implicit in some kind of eternity. 

So what do we do, trapped in the present of this never ending cycle?

Perhaps it is enough to cherish the moment, to treasure memory, and to see what the next day will bring.

I hope you enjoy this, dear reader, whoever you are. 

Cheers!

Zagreus, Prince of the Underworld

-

LONG-EARED VERMIN

A puzzling creature, the Long-Eared Vermin, for it has the stature and shape of those horrendous Gigantic Vermin I encounter in the Satyr Tunnels but has two key differences: 1) It has a set of tall, thin ears that point upwards to the sky and 2) They’re much less grotesque. I would even go so far as to say they’re rather adorable. Alas, life is full of obscure sufferings, for while this creature looks extremely pettable, they have a skittish demeanor and never let me get too close. 

VENOMOUS SERPENT

I would tell you more about this creature, but it killed me with the poison in its fangs before I could observe any more details. 

LONG-NECKED DEMON

I was foolish to think that surface creatures would all be friendly, but meeting this creature was my reminder that danger can lurk anywhere. The Long-Necked Demon, as its name suggests, is a vicious creature with absurd anatomy. It is snow white with short legs it moves as quick as a serpent, something I learned for this creature had charged at me with a terrible cry and began attacking me with its hard head protrusion. While it did not kill me, it did not leave me alone the entire time I was dying due to natural causes. Definitely among one of my more unpleasant deaths. 

DAMP HOPPER

This creature I found at the banks of the nearby stream with its bulbous eyes nestled atop its strange head and even stranger body, its long legs coiled in potential energy that is released in a powerful and graceful hop. It is delightful to watch in motion and peaceful to watch at rest. The Damp Hopper I had met allowed me to touch its bizarre head, and it feels like a fruit; vaguely juicy. When I had told it that description, it seemed offended, and hopped into the river. I hope I can apologize to it some time in the future.

FURRED DOG SERPENT

The surface never ceases to surprise me, for this creature is in the shape of a serpent but is most certainly not one. The Furred Dog Serpent is long, almost unbearably so, for something that has fur. It has the face of a dog, but its ears are flat against its head. This creature is very much like somebody had tried to draw a dog but had fallen asleep, their hand slipping on the parchment and creating this odd flat eared tube. Nonetheless, the Furred Serpent Dog is a joyous creature. I had seen a pack of them, playing by the nearby stream, and I had watched them skitter and splash about until my time was done.

THE ARMORED ONE

This creature I had only ever seen glimpses of, not on the surface, but in Lord Hermes’ satchel. Its little head would poke out, time to time, and now I know how the rest of it looks like, having seen one emerge from the stream. The Armored One gets its name from the sturdy shield that surrounds its body. When frightened, it can retract its head and all of its limbs into the shield, rendering it, I’m sure, nearly indestructible. Good design for the perils of the surface, and also for hazardous environments like Hermes’ satchel.

BROWN DAYTIME SONG BAT

Among many of the Daytime Bats, the Brown Daytime Song Bat is the first Daytime Bat I have encountered up close. It is a wonderful creature. While small, it makes up for its size with a singing voice that pierces through the cold expanse of the surface, bringing some semblance of warmth amidst the snow through its music. I am no expert, but I speculate that they sing for the same reason we all do; to bring beauty in this world, to make us feel something in our hearts, to make the days worth all the troubles. Its song definitely makes me feel at peace, and I have, on several occasions, sat at a tree where one of them was perched, listening to them as the River Styx creeped up to me. The Brown Daytime Song Bat in that tree had changed its tune into something gentle, like a soft goodbye. I hope to see it again next time.

SEA HOUND

I never get to travel all the way to the coast, but sometimes, when the Fates permit it, I can stand at the cliff’s edge and look at the shore. Usually, I am enraptured by the sun, by how its light dapples the large expanse of water before it, but this time, my attention had turned to something else; a creature, reclined on a slab of rock at the water’s edge. This creature was rotund and of a dark brown color, no obvious legs in sight. It reminded me of a fish, until it had turned its head and gaze at me, and look, I know a dog when I see one. The Sea Hound, in my mind, must be a type of hound made to traverse Poseidon’s realm. This would explain its shape, created to propel itself through the waves and the deep waters, and as it looks at me and as I look at it, I wonder. I wonder what it sees in my eyes. I wonder why it kept my gaze. I wonder if it knew how badly I wished I could walk to it, to sit at its side, to see the shore from a perspective I had never seen before. Strange creature, the Sea Hound. I am unsure if its gaze usually causes this kind of thought or if it is just me, but it is clear in my mind that this creature is kind. This I know because it looked at me until my eyes grew heavy and the River Styx took me home. 

THE SLIVER

These past few runs, I’ve taken to lying down in the snow and looking up at the sky. I do this for reasons I can’t seem to grasp yet. I simply lie down and wonder. I lie down and want. I want to see more of the surface, I want to know more of its creatures, I want to go further than I have gone. But I cannot. I wish I could be angry about this, for at least that is a simple emotion that is easy to understand, but instead, I feel some confounding mix of melancholy, frustration, ambition. Nothing makes sense to me, once all the battles of the run have been fought, so I lie there in the snow and, inevitably, look up. What I see, most of the time, is an overcast sky, but today, I saw something different. I saw The Sliver. I call it this because its form was too far away for me to truly discern, but the fact that it flies must mean it is some sort of Daytime Bat, but one that is shaped like a brushstroke; lithe, graceful, light. It soared above me, far away, riding the winds idly until I could see it no longer. Desperately, I want to know of its journey, but the moment the thought comes to me, The Sliver had flown out of my line of sight. I cannot see the whole sky. I cannot see the whole world. I want to know of the homes creatures return to, I want to know of how they love, I want to know of how they die….but then what? The Sliver comes and then it goes, and I surmise that it will come and go tomorrow and the day after that until its time comes and then another Sliver shall take to the sky. What a cruel reminder of endlessness. What a gentle reminder of endlessness. The sky was empty, by the time I died, but there will be another. Maybe I’ll see it, maybe I won’t, but I know there will be Sliver somewhere in the clouds, too far up for anybody to see its face.

**Author's Note:**

> maybe this couldve done with more animal entries but theres only so many ways i can describe animals like ive never seen them before
> 
> i didnt include any fish because i assume zag assumes that the three surface fish achilles wrote about…..thats it. thats all of em. thats how it works in the underworld biomes, so it must work like that on the surface (zag voice: which is….one huge biome…..right????)
> 
> im [actualbird](http://actualbird.tumblr.com/) on tumblr!!!


End file.
